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> It feels very necessary for my own mental health that these discussions have a space, can you see that side too? And I feel Furthermore a responsibility to th

> It feels very necessary for my own mental health that these discussions have a space, can you see that side too? And I feel Furthermore a responsibility to the people whose mental health and everything else is being affected directly by these off the wall decisions. I feel that there is definite emotional need for seeing that at least some of your peers share enough of your values to have a similar reaction to you - although that can cut both ways. For example, during COVID, many of the discussions were IMHO cesspools of misinformation with incredibly angry takes. In that situation I preferred having fewer of these threads on the main page. Intellectually, I'm not so sure. I mean, at some point you either agree that all of this is crazy or you don't. You can certainly discuss immigration, government spending, even some hot button issues like DEI with some amount of civility, but when you're faced with what looks to be a descent into authoritarianism, is there really anything left to discuss? I'm not sure.

AlecSchueler 2y ago
Ways to fight back surely? And the "what looks like" is important because how do I know without discussion amongst peers? It's fair what you're saying about Covid but HN is not where I come to hear the opinions of medical experts. But this crypto stuff, DOGE having physical access to servers etc.? The question again is where do we discuss it if not here? If it wasn't connected to Trump this would be the obvious place to come.
johnnyanmac 2y ago
>For example, during COVID, many of the discussions were IMHO cesspools of misinformation with incredibly angry takes. Health, law, relationships. Those are pretty much my main exceptions to stuff I can justify culling misinformation from. It's very specific, personal (or region-based', and bad advice can cost lives. No physical life is worth upholding some free speech on the internet. This meanwhile is simply a mix of news and opinion. It's not harming anyone and HN never really gets "full on the front page". The algorithm does tailor to variety and the moderation strives to make sure duplicate stories are merged. >but when you're faced with what looks to be a descent into authoritarianism, is there really anything left to discuss? I'm not sure. Yes. It's more important to discuss than ever. You need to talk about organizing and rebelling. About how to use the system against itself. How to find allies. Keeping people ignorant and isolated is how you get hat regime to begin with. I wouldn't have thought myself that calling my reps works without the right forums. I wouldn't know when and where protests in my area are. HN wants to say it's a community, but times like this reminds me we're more of some amourphous Meetup, mostly a revolving door of people who come in anf out with this pressure to talk about specific topics. But never make any deep connections. We need community more than ever.
- Tainnor 2y ago
  The thing is that in these threads I see mostly (a) justified but predictable indignation, and (b) obvious propaganda accounts / trolls with bad takes that more reasonable people probably unhelpfully try to engage with (the propaganda comments eventually get downvoted or flagged but you'll still see them especially for new submissions). I agree that actually discussing what can be done would be more productive.

AlecSchueler 2y ago

Ways to fight back surely? And the "what looks like" is important because how do I know without discussion amongst peers? It's fair what you're saying about Covid but HN is not where I come to hear the opinions of medical experts. But this crypto stuff, DOGE having physical access to servers etc.? The question again is where do we discuss it if not here? If it wasn't connected to Trump this would be the obvious place to come.

johnnyanmac 2y ago

>For example, during COVID, many of the discussions were IMHO cesspools of misinformation with incredibly angry takes. Health, law, relationships. Those are pretty much my main exceptions to stuff I can justify culling misinformation from. It's very specific, personal (or region-based', and bad advice can cost lives. No physical life is worth upholding some free speech on the internet. This meanwhile is simply a mix of news and opinion. It's not harming anyone and HN never really gets "full on the front page". The algorithm does tailor to variety and the moderation strives to make sure duplicate stories are merged. >but when you're faced with what looks to be a descent into authoritarianism, is there really anything left to discuss? I'm not sure. Yes. It's more important to discuss than ever. You need to talk about organizing and rebelling. About how to use the system against itself. How to find allies. Keeping people ignorant and isolated is how you get hat regime to begin with. I wouldn't have thought myself that calling my reps works without the right forums. I wouldn't know when and where protests in my area are. HN wants to say it's a community, but times like this reminds me we're more of some amourphous Meetup, mostly a revolving door of people who come in anf out with this pressure to talk about specific topics. But never make any deep connections. We need community more than ever.

Tainnor 2y ago
The thing is that in these threads I see mostly (a) justified but predictable indignation, and (b) obvious propaganda accounts / trolls with bad takes that more reasonable people probably unhelpfully try to engage with (the propaganda comments eventually get downvoted or flagged but you'll still see them especially for new submissions). I agree that actually discussing what can be done would be more productive.